Giving You the Gospel: Deitrick Haddon

“This is my best work to date and it’s an album full of songs that’s going to help people move forward and motivate them to get up!”- Deitrick Haddon

Deitrick Haddon is back with new music and with what he says feels like a second wind in life! The gospel singer speaks with JET about his latest album, “Masterpiece,” his failures, repentance and restoration. He also talks about “Preachers of LA,” and what’s next for 2016!

JET: Congratulations on your newest album! How do you feel now that it has released?

Deitrick Haddon: I’m nervous! You never know what people are thinking…or where music is. So you know, you’re nervous and you’re excited at the same time.

JET: What was your creative approach to this album and how does it compare to your previous work?

Deitrick Haddon: Well, most of my music is a reflection of where I am in life. When you listen to my music and the lyrics together, you can pretty much know who Deitrick is and where he is at the time. When I look at my life right now, all I can come up with is that it’s a masterpiece. When I look in the eyes of my daughters Destin and Denver, and my son Little Deitrick Haddon, who is 2 months old, all I can say is that it’s a work of art and it’s a masterpiece! With this album, I’m just telling people that the good, the bad and the ugly–the ups and downs, the twists and turns, the hurts, the joys, the pains and betrayal–whatever it is you go through in your life, it’s all going to come together to be something good.

JET: Was it challenging to address everything that you wanted to speak on in this album?

Deitrick Haddon: Well, we recorded 50 songs and I wanted them all on the record! Narrowing down the list was a task! You can hear a couple of bonus songs on the Walmart edition, but we finally got the full album narrowed down to 16 songs! We broke it down to focus on the theme of the record. The first song on the album, “Masterpiece” begins the story letting people know that “God isn’t through with me yet, but He’s working on me.” When He’s done, it’s going to be beautiful so don’t count me out because you see some flaws, or because you see the mess. Because God can turn a mess into a masterpiece.

JET: You have a song called “Running,” where you talk about rejection and boxing with God. How did you find your way back from that place?

Deitrick Haddon: I guess I was like the prodigal son. I kind of went to war with God, because I was upset. I had been preaching, singing gospel music and winning souls for the Kingdom of God all my life. I was called to preach at 11 years old, and I’ve been doing it ever since. All of the mistakes I have ever made have been in the church. I don’t have a testimony of being out there on the street you know…selling drugs or doing drugs, etc. I have always been about the church. Making that sacrifice to serve the Lord all of your life and to win souls all of your life guards you from certain things. But, I found out the hard way that all of us have to live our lives… and when it rains, it pours on everybody’s house. There is nobody who is exempt from trouble. I don’t care how many titles you add to your name. There’s always something and you don’t get a pass because you’re a believer.

JET: That brings us to your single, “Restore Me Again.” It’s evident that it came from a very real place for you…

Deitrick Haddon: Yes! That song is about as real as it gets for me. I was really in that place when I wrote that song. It was just me, Jesus, and a piano…and that was it. It was me crying and pouring my heart out to God saying I’ve been unthankful. I’ve been ungrateful, yet you still find mercy for me. I’ve been unfaithful, but you never stopped believing in me. I’ve fallen short of your glory, but I refuse to let that be the end of my story. Those are real words coming straight from my heart. It’s not just a song. It may be just a song to somebody else, but it’s my heart in that song.

JET: What have you learned from your journey with The Preachers of LA reality series?

Deitrick Haddon: Well, I’ve learned that people feel like they’re apart of your family when they’re watching you on TV every day! They feel like they really know you. I run into people everyday who ask “How’s your mother-in-law doing?” and comments like “I’m so glad you got a hold of that McClendon. You told him the truth!” There are also a lot of people who think that maybe I’ve gotten backlash from the show and that it has hurt my career. But, it has really been one of the greatest blessings of my career to have that platform! It has allowed me to do some other things and produce other TV Shows like Fix My Choir and a few more TV shows that we’re releasing next year, and it’s all because of the Preachers of LA brand!

JET: So, there are more TV Shows for planned for 2016?

Deitrick Haddon: Oh, absolutely! We’ve been working hard! One show just got picked up. I can’t give too much information about that just yet. I think they want that to come from them, so I’ll leave that alone. But, we have two other shows where it looks like we’re about to get the green light! I’m one of the executive producers for Preachers of LA, and I’m the executive producer for Fix My Choir, so Hollywood is kind of having a little confidence in your boy! They believe I can deliver an audience to them that will work for their network. So, I’m just working on that and I’m excited about it! I feel like I have a second wind! I love music. Music is my life. Music is my baby. But, I’m always excited about new ventures and doing something new!

Want more Deitrick? Catch him on the Oxygen channel’s “Preachers of LA.” Keep up with Deitrick on Twitter at @DeitrickHaddon.

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